Roy Hodgson tried to bring the 31-year-old, also known as Cleo, to Anfield in 2011 when he was banging in the goals for Partizan in the Serbian top flight.

But he says Guangzhou Evergrande made him an offer too good to turn down, telling ESPN Brazil: “It was a situation where I had to go, I had no choice.

“This bid from China was of a lot of money. I was the most expensive transfer of the Chinese league at that time!

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"It was then that they began to invest heavily in foreigners. But for that I had to give up on many offers from Europe, such as Liverpool, Fiorentina, Lyon and Marseille."

And Cleo, now plying his trade with Brazilian minnows Goias, insists he has no regrets about making the move to China.

He added: “I could be playing in Europe nowadays, but I wouldn’t have financially got what I did in four years in China. I would have to play a whole career in Europe and work as a coach to get close to that.

“But I don’t regret it. I secured my financial independence.”

Cleo

“Of course it was very difficult because it’s everyone’s dream to play for a major European club, especially after Roy Hodgson called me a ‘goal machine’.